Couple’s Second Child Dies After Prayer-Only Healing Doesn’t Work (Again)

In 2009, Herbert and Catherine Schaible lost their 2-year-old son, Kent, to bacterial pneumonia—a condition they refused to let a doctor treat, insisting on using only prayer to heal him. Last week, their second son died. He, too, failed to receive any potentially life-saving medical care.

The Schaibles are members of a fundamentalist Christian church that believes only in faith-healing. After Kent died, they were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to probation for 10 years.

Their second child was just 8 months old. He had suffered from diarrhea and breathing problems. Official charges have yet to be filed, as the precise cause of death still needs to be determined.

At a hearing, Judge Benjamin Lerner violated the Schaibles' probation, saying that the couple had failed to offer the most basic protection for their child.